The beginning of 2011 in Albania saw the culmination of 18 months of organized protest by the opposition Socialist Party of Albania (PS). On January 21 guards fired shots from within the prime minister’s office complex in Tirana, killing three protesters, when demonstrators tried to break through a fence surrounding the grounds. The protests followed the resignation on January 14 of Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta, the leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), the junior partner in the governing coalition led by the Democratic Party (PD). Meta was at the centre of a corruption scandal sparked by a video that allegedly showed him trying to influence then economy minister Dritan Prifti to intervene on behalf of a private company in the government concession for a hydroelectric power plant. Meta denied the authenticity of the video.

On May 8 former foreign minister Lulzim Basha of the PD challenged PS leader Edi Rama for the Tirana mayor’s office. Rama, the incumbent, was declared the narrow winner, but he lost the recount that was ordered by the state election commission because of ballot-box irregularities. On May 19 Rama’s supporters, who attempted to disrupt the recount, clashed with police outside the election commission offices. On June 27 Albania’s central election commission announced that Basha had won the race, and on July 8 a court confirmed the decision.

In the wake of the events surrounding the Tirana mayoral race, the PS resumed the partial parliamentary boycott it had maintained since disputed general elections on June 28, 2009. PS members returned to their seats on September 5, however, to vote on constitutional amendments essential to Albania’s progress toward EU association and integration. Albanian law required the consent of three-fifths of the members of Parliament for changes to the constitution, and PS support was necessary for passage. The late move was not sufficient to satisfy repeated demands by the EU’s enlargement commissioner for an end to the political stalemate. Presenting the EU’s progress reports on October 11, Stefan Fule made clear that Albania was not ready to attain candidate status in 2011, a target that had been set by Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto.

The opposition criticized the decision by PD legislators to raze a pyramid-shaped building that once had served as a museum for Stalinist leader Enver Hoxha to construct a new parliament building at that location to honour the 100th anniversary of Albania’s independence in 1912. PD legislator Enkeled Alibeaj described the planned building as “a temple of democracy” and stressed that “we cannot preserve a place glorifying a dictator.” Pres. Bamir Topi also announced on June 15 that Albania would begin paying Russia for a €25 million ($36 million) Hoxha-era debt to the Soviet Union.

Albania’s economy stabilized as GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011 was 3.4% greater than in the same period in 2010. Midyear unemployment and inflation rates dropped slightly but continued to hover at about 13% and 3%, respectively.

Aided by Europol and several European police forces, Albanian police foiled two major shipments of cocaine to the country, seizing 200 kg (about 440 lb) of the illegal drug on March 22 and almost a ton on May 31. In March drug gang leader Alfred Shkurti was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes that included murder, destruction of property, and international drug trafficking. In October, however, an appeals court ordered a new trial.

On April 2 Haxhi Ded Reshat Bardhi, who had led the Albanian Islamic Sufi order for 18 years, died. On November 30 Leka Zogu, the son of Zog I (the king of precommunist Albania) and claimant to the throne, died at age 72 in Tirana. The government declared periods of national mourning for both men.

Click anywhere inside the article to add text or insert superscripts, subscripts, and special characters.
You can also highlight a section and use the tools in this bar to modify existing content:

Add links to related Britannica articles!
You can double-click any word or highlight a word or phrase in the text below and then select an article from the search box.
Or, simply highlight a word or phrase in the article, then enter the article name or term you'd like to link to in the search box below, and select from the list of results.

Note: we do not allow links to external resources in editor.
Please click the Web sites link for this article to add citations for
external Web sites.